Alien Slave (8 page)

The Imdiko staggered, and Gelan and
Wynhod were there to catch them both, gently lowering the fused
pair to the floor with good-natured laughter. The pulses flowing
through Dani’s belly quieted gradually, and she leaned against
Krijero, snuggling her cheek against the hollow of his shoulder.
She closed her eyes, listening to his pants ease as he caught his
breath.

The Kalquorians with their amazing
bodies and carnal abilities had ruined everything, she thought
ruefully. She was going to be spoiled for the rest of her customers
from now on.

Chapter 3

Afternoon overtook morning in the city
of Ler before Dani awoke the next day. A lovely cool breeze wafted
into her room through the open window, along with the scents of
food and the shouts of the open-air vendors. The whir of shuttle
traffic and music from buskers of varying talents created the
constant hum of activity Dani had grown used to hearing outside her
room. She fingered the collar around her neck with its tracking
device. Every slave wore one, preventing escape from their
respective brothels. Should Dani be stupid enough to jump out her
window and make a run for it, she’d be quickly caught, stripped
bare in the market square, and beaten as an example to others
contemplating such foolishness. Contracts were very serious
business on Dantovon, religiously adhered to.

Only the brothel owner could unlock
Dani’s collar. So the open window, more than large enough for her
to wriggle out of, remained only a tease of the wide world outside
her room.

Room? Try closet.

The tiny space wasn’t even the size of
her walk-in closet at home in Wilmington, Delaware. The soft golden
light filtering into the slave dorm couldn’t gentle the cramped
space that afforded all the privacy Dani possessed. She slept on a
thin bed mat on the stained nap of the flooring. Over her head hung
four identical gray slave outfits in varying states of cleanliness.
Laundry costs came out of Dani’s earnings, and she was careful to
keep the clothing as unsullied as possible. She could usually
stretch her outfits to last almost two weeks.

A small mirror and wash basin completed
her lodgings. The showers and toilet facilities were shared amongst
the slaves.

Dani stretched, noted slight aches and
the aroma of cinnamon all over her body and sat up with a gasp. The
night before returned, its hours and hours of pleasure with the
Kalquorians replaying in detail in her mind.

Dani swallowed. Her body warmed with
the memory of lovemaking beyond any she’d known before. With the
enemy, no less. How far she had fallen to have entertained members
of the race that had rendered Earth uninhabitable for who knew how
many decades!

But they’d been so solicitous despite
making no bones about being in absolute control over her. Kind,
even. Her pleasure had seemed as important to them as their own.
More important, perhaps.

“
What strange men,” Dani
whispered to herself. Where were the monsters, the evil demons they
were reputed to be? She’d seen nothing of that, not even from the
ferocious-seeming Wynhod. Had the Kalquorian invasion that ended in
the nuclear

holocaust of Earth’s major cities
really been as benign as they said? Had her own government been
behind Armageddon, destroying the majority of the populace rather
than accepting enemy occupation?

“
Or is it just a story they
told to gain sex?” Perhaps Earthers and Kalquorians weren’t so
dissimilar after all. Scheming, lying, and throwing money around,
just to get what they wanted. Dani snorted. Different planet, same
song.

At least she knew the dance. She took
comfort in that.

And the Kalquorians were great sex
partners. The best she’d ever known. Dani shrugged off the guilt
she felt at hoping they’d hire her again. She had to lay with
clients anyway; they might as well be ones she enjoyed even if it
made her a traitor to her people.

Hope got Dani to her feet, got her
dressed. Maybe they’d already booked her for tonight. If they
planned to see her again, they should have taken care of it before
leaving at daybreak this morning. Her schedule filled fast. It was
the blessing and curse of being such a rare commodity, a female
Earther willing to have sex with anyone who paid her
fee.

Dani left her cramped space, looking
for breakfast, a shower, and to check tonight’s schedule. Like a
child, the fingers on both her hands were crossed.

* * * *

Wynhod traipsed the hot, humid jungle
on the outskirts of the Dantovonian city of Ler, the current home
of a very succulent Earther sex slave. Danielle Watson had not left
his mind for a second since they’d departed the brothel that
morning. He’d been amused at his body’s repeated response. The
crotch of his black formsuit kept betraying the erections that
swelled when he thought of the Earther’s scent, her warmth, her
deliciously long body with those wide welcoming hips. Fucking her
over and over had counted as one of the best nights of his life.
Maybe the best night ever. He couldn’t wait to do it
again.

As he trailed behind Gelan, Wynhod
mentally shook his head. He’d never been so distracted. After one
intoxicating night with Dani, he suspected Kalquor’s threatened
extinction alone didn’t account for his race’s obsession to clan
Earther women. He wondered if Dani was a typical example of her
kind. If so, it was a wonder Kalquorian clans weren’t fighting to
the death to gain Earther childbearers.

Wynhod made himself concentrate on
making noise. Hunting down Dantovon’s monstrous sheclir
demonstrated how silent he’d been trained to be. It took effort to
not move noiselessly, even in the dense undergrowth. One of a
Nobek’s first lessons was to stalk prey quietly. Capturing the
brutal sheclir Gelan prized so highly was not like most big game in
that you killed it as it came to kill you.

Wynhod looked at his Dramok’s wide back
as Gelan stomped rhythmically through the jungle. He couldn’t see
his leader’s face, but the Nobek knew the expression he wore; a
vicious, fang-baring smile. One could almost feel sorry for the
great burrowing creature the clan stalked. Gelan lived for the
hunt, tracking and killing with a

ruthlessness that impressed and
terrified all at once. Wynhod often wondered if his clanmate hadn’t
been mis-classified. Gelan was a fine leader to be sure, but he
certainly would have made a hell of a Nobek.

Krijero stomped behind them, his heavy
tread not an attempt to lure in the sheclir. He stumbled
occasionally, his muttered curses easily discernable to Wynhod’s
sensitive hearing. The awkward Imdiko liked the outdoors as well as
they did, but he preferred much quieter pursuits like fishing or
hiking, which was on tomorrow’s itinerary. The vacation had been
planned for all three to enjoy their hobbies of choice. Wynhod’s
love for mountain climbing would be addressed later in the week.
Dantovon’s Mount Trud was far steeper and a better challenge to his
skills than the mountain the clan lived in back on
Kalquor.

But first they had to catch and kill
the sheclir, which swam the earth beneath them like a fish swam
water. The sooner they accomplished that, the sooner they could
return to the bright lights of Ler and the other delightful
activities available.

A furred winged critter no bigger than
his pinkie fluttered in front of his nose. As he batted it aside
Wynhod griped to himself, “I hope this damned thing shows up soon.
I’d like to get back to the city in a few hours.”

Gelan’s chuckle let him know the Dramok
had overheard him. “Your impatience wouldn’t have anything to do
with an Earther, would it?”

Wynhod couldn’t help the grin that
spread over his face. Dani had been a revelation. He’d had the good
fortune to bed one of the rare females of his own race, and even
she hadn’t felt so good. Not so soft and clingy on the insides. “I
admit, I’m reconsidering our decision to not clan a
Matara.”

They reached a small clearing where the
underbrush was only ankle-deep. Gelan halted forward progress, but
he kept stomping in the monotonous rhythm that supposedly attracted
the sheclir’s attention. Wynhod matched him.

Krijero’s attempts weren’t quite as
precisely timed as his clanmates’ but Wynhod didn’t think the
sheclir would mind. It would only care that a meal awaited it above
ground. If there was a sheclir within twenty-five miles, it would
find them, and the fight to kill or be killed would
commence.

Krijero looked unhappy, and Wynhod knew
it had nothing to do with the bloodthirsty beast that might be
bearing down on them even now. The Imdiko’s protest proved him
right. “There are too few Earther females to go around. I don’t see
why we should drive ourselves crazy competing for such an unlikely
prize.”

Wynhod found his most soothing tone.
“No other clan is sniffing around our little fighter. It was only
by accident that we found out she was here.”

“
She doesn’t like us. What’s
more, it would be prohibitively expensive to buy her
contract.”

Gelan’s growly voice strove for
gentleness. “We have the funds. It’s a thought, but let’s see what
tonight brings us.”

Wynhod was secretly thrilled Gelan
seemed agreeable about perhaps purchasing Dani from the brothel.
But with Krijero looking unhappy, he kept his pleasure to
himself.

He felt sorry for his Imdiko, clumsy
not only physically but socially as well. It had taken over ten
years of working with the psychologist to appreciate the man’s
strong points, and even then it had been Gelan who recognized how
perfect Krijero was for their clan. It took another three to prove
themselves to the reluctant Imdiko, but it had been worth
it.

Wynhod tried to find the right words to
calm Krijero’s fears, to let him know potential rejection from Dani
wouldn’t be the end of the universe. Before he could, a thrum of
vibration traveled from the soles of his heavily booted feet to the
top of his head. He froze, and so did the other two.

As one they resumed stomping, all
slowly drawing their blades. A sheclir was coming fast to judge
from the now shuddering ground. At Gelan’s nod, all three spread
out in a triangle. The earth quaked, and a low roar announced the
sheclir’s arrival within seconds. Wynhod trained his gaze on the
ground in the space between the clan, but also made sure he could
keep an eye on Krijero. He wouldn’t allow the Imdiko’s clumsiness
to get him killed. No trophy was worth that.

The ground bucked and cracked, and
suddenly the sheclir burst through the earth’s crust in an
explosion of dirt and foliage. Its eyeless head blotted out the
thick canopy of flora overhead. The maw of the monster stretched
wide, capable of consuming all three Kalquorians in one bite. A
ring of daggered teeth in its thinner throat gnashed in preparation
of its meal. One claw, built more for tunneling than grasping,
scrabbled at the edge of the hole it had created. Its soft,
gray-green body was still buried out of sight.

As luck would have it, the sheclir
scented Krijero first. Whipping its great head towards him with
blinding speed, it homed in on the Imdiko with deadly accuracy.
Wynhod yelled and launched himself at the creature.

As he landed on top of the thing’s
head, it slammed into the ground where Krijero had stood.
Fortunately, the Imdiko had been smart enough to run towards the
sheclir, not away. The beast was used to prey trying to escape, not
assault it. It had adjusted its attack to cover the ground it
thought Krijero would flee towards. Instead of a mouthful of
Kalquorian, the sheclir got a throatful of his knife. It shrieked
loud enough to make Wynhod’s ears pop.

It took an hour for the clan to kill
it. Sweating and cursing, the three were continuously bucked off
the furious creature. Wynhod and his clanmates would spring back
upon it, avoiding the hungry mouth by mere inches. They slashed at
the meter-thick layer of fat that made up the sheclir’s skin to get
at the vulnerable parts beneath. They were soon covered in
greenish-yellow fluid that made hanging onto the monster even
harder. Unused to being the prey and stupid beyond belief, the
sheclir never tried to retreat into its tunnel. It battled them
with mindless rage, its instincts as an unconquerable apex predator
leading to its destruction.

At last it succumbed, mostly due to
Gelan’s concentrated attacks on one spot midway down its throat.
The massive head thudded to the ground, and a wheeze announced its
final breath. The three men bellowed victory, their cries as animal
as the sheclir’s had been. Gelan slapped a locator on the top of
the thing’s head with a flourish. Dantovonian recovery crews would
descend on the carcass, rendering the massive fat stores into
needed fuel and butchering the meat to feed Ler’s inhabitants and
tourists. The bones of the beast had too many uses to be
catalogued. Nothing would go to waste.

Wynhod grinned at his clanmates, his
heart still pounding from the glorious fight. It had been an
amazing battle, one to be remembered for a long time. Before last
night and Danielle Watson, he might have said it was as good as
sex.

* * * *

Dani couldn’t help but grin when she
saw her schedule for the evening. Not only had Gelan’s clan
scheduled a visit, they’d booked her entire shift. Her insides
fluttered. The anticipation killed off the guilt of sleeping with
the enemy. Well, mostly.