Branded (3 page)

“What
does that mean?”

“It
means you’re here because I want you here. If not for me you’d be another
breeder.” He rested his hand on her knee, looked into her face, and waited for
her to realize that. She might be relaxed from the Posh, but she understood
what was happening. She just didn’t care because of the drug.

“Are
you going to make me your breeder, your sex slave?”

He
was surprised she was forward with her questions, even if she was on Posh.

He
removed his hand from her knee, clenched them into fists at his side, and tried
to keep his composure. “I don’t take females against their will.”

“But
you did.” There was a pause. “You took me from the only home I’ve known, the
only family I’ve ever had.”

He
felt this strange twinge deep inside of him, this need to explain he wasn’t
this monster. But that would be a lie, because he
was
a monster, and he
had
taken her for himself.

“You
have no family anymore. They’ve been taken to the labor facility, and the few
fertile females have been placed in the breeder compound.”

She
pushed herself up a bit, but that seemed hard for her. “What about my friend,
the man trying to get me out of there?”

He
clenched his jaw. “What relation is he to you?”

She
closed her eyes, rubbed her forehead, and exhaled, resting back against the
wall again. “What difference does anything make anymore?”

He
didn’t respond, just watched as her resistance left, her strength fading, and
he knew this woman, drugged or not, wouldn’t fight him. She’d lost her hope,
which was clear to him. He sensed it, smelled it come from her in waves of
sadness, and knew that his people had done this to her.

“What
is your age, female?
Your name?”

She
dropped her hand to her lap and blinked a few times, maybe trying to clear her
head. “I think twenty-one, although I don’t know for sure as I’ve been hiding,
from your kind, since I was born.” She looked at him, maybe hesitant to answer
the rest. “God, what does it even matter?” she said to herself. “My name is
Greta.”

He
wasn’t going to argue with her on the politics of it all. Decades had passed,
and he couldn’t control what happened in the past. But she was young, so much
younger than he was. At twenty-one she was a mere child compared to him and his
species.

“Sleep,
female,” he said, and watched as she closed her eyes, the Posh too strong for
her to fight anymore. He left her in the guest pod and went into the living
area. Sitting down on the bench, he breathed out and scrubbed a hand over his
face. She’d sleep for the next few hours at least, and then he’d have to deal
with explaining he had no intentions of letting her go, and that if she were
breeding with anyone it would only be him.

Chapter
Four

“What
are you planning on doing with her,
Tolcan
?”
Stellan
asked,
this concentration and almost … worry
on his face. They were at his pod,
Stellan
having shown up after he clearly heard the
news
Tolcan
had put in a request to keep the female
as a concubine, because wanting her, requesting her as a mate, was forbidden.

“What
does it look like?” he said, angry that one of his warriors was questioning him.
But
Stellan
wasn’t just under
Tolcan’s
command, but also a male he’d known since he was a boy. They’d been together
when they landed on earth, fought side-by-side, and had watched over the other.
This was his friend, and it was clear
Stellan
was
confused, too, about why
Tolcan
was suddenly taking
on a female for his own when he’d never shown interest before.

Then
Greta had been sleeping for the last three hours, and like a male infatuated
with the female he’d gone in and checked on her several times. But this
obsession he had, springing up from the moment he’d taken her to his pod,
wasn’t going to lessen. He knew that, knew himself well enough to understand
when something like this had his attention it wouldn’t go away.
War,
fighting, defending his kind, those all had attention
in him, concentration, obsession. Greta was the same way. It was instant,
consuming, and he wasn’t going to ignore it even if he’d told himself he would.

“It
looks like you’re taking on a human female as a concubine?
A
wife?
A mate?
What,
Tolcan
?”

Tolcan
stared at
Stellan
,
looked at the male’s arms, and stared at those black lines covering his flesh.
He didn’t have as many as
Tolcan
, but unless a
warrior had the highest Enforcer status their black stripes of pride, or war
and death, defending his people, didn’t cover them from wrist to shoulder. “I
want her, and that’s all there is to it. What I choose to do with her is my
business.” He stood, done with this conversation. Greta would be waking soon,
and he had enough shit to deal with when she fully realized after sleeping,
eating, and the drug wearing off that she was his irrevocably.

Stellan
nodded,
a sharp, almost angry tilt of his head. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I
can see, can tell, that she means something to you, and I don’t understand why.
But I do know I’ve never seen you care about a woman for more than a couple of
hours, not Rogue or human.”
Stellan
looked at him for
a long moment. “Be careful,
Tolcan
. If you want her
as more than a female to fuck, then you’re screwed.” He walked toward the front
doors. “You know the Royal council would never let you take a human as a mate,
not even if you’re one of their highest Enforcers,
Tolcan
.”
Then
Stellan
left, the doors sliding into the wall
before closing once more.

Tolcan
stood there, his anger seething
that one of his soldiers called it out like that. Told him exactly what had
been playing in his mind. He turned and went into the guest bedroom, knowing he
shouldn’t be seeing her, speaking to her when he was in this volatile mood.

When
he stepped inside he saw she was already awake, sitting in the corner of the
bed, the blankets wrapped around her. He didn’t speak and neither did she, but
he scented her fear, her wariness, and the need to escape. She could try, but
there was no way she could leave his home without him.

There
were safeguards in place, codes on the doors and windows. He didn’t want a
prisoner, but a willing submissive, a female that wanted to be here for him,
with him. He could see that making Greta understand being with him was better
than the alternative was going to be one of the toughest missions he’d even
done.

“I
know you must want to bathe. Come,” he said, and when she didn’t move he
clenched his jaw. “You’re here, which believe me when I say is better than
where you could be, Greta.” She still had yet to move, and he breathed out,
controlling his anger. He was used to getting what he wanted at all times.
Anyone that thought to deny him, go against him, was dealt with swiftly.

But
Greta wasn’t of his kind, and had lived her life fearing the Rogues, seeing
them as monsters. She didn’t know his power, his status within the Rogue
nation, and because of that he needed to remind himself that he’d need to go
slow and gentle with her, that she wouldn’t be ready, wouldn’t be able to
handle the type of sex he usually had, especially not for her first time.

“Female,
if I wanted to hurt you I could have done so a hundred times over by now.” He
let that sink in, and when she started to move off the bed he took a step back,
giving her space. He wasn’t used to acting like this, catering to someone, but
he needed to learn, just like she’d learn she was his.

****

Greta
followed the large Rogue into the bathing chamber. She’d looked around his
home, at how it was gorgeous yet sparse. She’d never seen any of the things he
had in his home, but then again aside from the trinkets, and even the rare
photograph she’d seen when coming into contact with smaller camps of humans,
she’d only known caves and primitive living.

She
worried about Jayce, worried about what was happening and where he was. Did he
even survive? He was young and strong, and she knew that if he did survive he
was most likely in the labor camps, or, God forbid, a male concubine for a
Rogue female. Yes, she’d heard the female alien species often took human males
as sexual playthings, and that sickened her, just like her current situation
had her whole body tensing with wariness and disgust.

When
they entered the bathing chamber she stopped and held the blanket more firmly
around her. It was a large room, far bigger than the largest cave she’d stayed
in. but then again this male was seven feet tall and so muscular. He’d need a
huge space.

He
walked over to the basin, turned it on, and she stared transfixed at the clean
water coming out of the metal spout. Her bathing over the last twenty-one years
had been in lakes, creeks, or when water had been brought to her camp and
heated over a fire.

She’d
never had anything like this before, and she couldn’t deny that it was so very
tempting. But as she looked at the male that called himself
Tolcan
,
and told her she wasn’t leaving, she knew being grateful for anything he gave
her would only have her falling more under his control.

“You’ll
bathe, put on the attire laid out before you, and when you’re finished you’ll
come to the living quarters.” He stared at her, his big, imposing frame seeming
to make the bathroom small, suffocating. But he didn’t move right away, just
stood there, waiting,
watching
. Did he expect her to
undress in front of him?

He’d
already taken her shoes off when he’d brought her here, and who knew what else
he’d done while she’d been passed out. But on that thought she knew he was
right. If he’d wanted to hurt her he could have. Instead he was feeding her,
letting her stay in a comfortable room, and letting her bathe in his home. He
said she was his, and although she could assume that that meant exactly what he
said, she also had to wonder what all that entailed.

She
certainly didn’t want to upset him, so she grabbed the edge of the shift she
wore, lifted it up and over her head, and let it fall to the floor. For a
second all he did was stand there, his face a mask of indifference as he gazed
at her nakedness, and she felt this embarrassment, shame, awkwardness that he
didn’t seem affected, or that she even cared what he felt.

He
walked toward her and her heart pounded harder, but before he touched her, took
her, raped her, like she assumed, he moved past her and turned the water off.
She turned and looked at him, covering her breasts and between her thighs with
her arm and hand, and felt so foolish. But why did she care? Why didn’t she
feel anything but disgust right now?

“Take
your time.” He turned walked toward the door, but stopped right before he left.
“And escaping is futile.”
Tolcan
looked over his
shoulder at her. “And even if by some miracle you found a way out, I’d find
you, Greta.”

The
way he said her name had a chill racing up her body. He turned back around and
left her alone. The door slid shut, becoming opaque so she had a semblance of
privacy.

Turning
back toward the basin of water, she smelled the sweet scent coming from it, and
saw the steam rise up from the water. It looked like heaven, and although she
wanted to bask in this moment for a second, she instantly felt guilt. The other
humans from her camp were probably dealing with a fate much worse than hers.

Greta
stared at the water for another moment, turned and looked at the door, and
wondered how she was going to get out of here. It was clear he wouldn’t let her
go, and until she knew what she would do she would need to be smart. He said
there was no escape for her, but did mention if she did find a way out he’d be
able to find her. Did that mean there was a chance? But even if she escaped she
didn’t know where to go.

She
didn’t even know where she was exactly. For all Greta knew she was in a
compound already, one that held the housing units for the Rogues. Escaping
might only end up having her landing right in the middle of a group of Rogues.
She didn’t even want to think about what would happen to her.

She
moved toward the tub and stepped in, and as soon as she was engulfed from the
neck down with the hot, sweet smelling water, a moan left her. She’d never felt
anything as glorious as being weightless in liquid, or the peace and pleasure
coursing through her. Opening her eyes and staring at the bath supplies on the
ledge, she picked up a rock that was light, had holes through it, and brought
it to her nose. It smelled fresh, clean, and when she dropped it in the water
it floated. She had no idea what it was used for, or many of the other items
here, but she’d figure it out. The last thing she wanted to do was go against
what
Tolcan
said just to be stubborn. His wrath was
not something she wanted to see or tempt.

For
the next twenty or so minutes she soaked in the tub, washed her hair with this
gel type substance that smelled of the pine trees in the woods, and used this
foam substance on her body that smelled of the wildflowers she’d so often
picked. She had no hair on her arms, underarms, or even her legs. She didn’t
know why as the other human females she’d seen during her time all had hair
covering those parts. Greta supposed it had something to do with her genetics
on her parents’ side, but she didn’t remember much about them, and had no way
of asking. She smoothed the foam along her legs and arms, and cleaned the rest
of the body. She’d never felt this clean, not even after she’d bathed in the
creek.

Once
out and dried, she grabbed the clothing
Tolcan
set
out for her. They were dark, loose fitting, and were in two pieces. Did all
humans have to wear these? The dark colored top was long sleeved, but the
collar was cut in a V shape, almost going obscenely down to her navel, with
only a small string connecting the top to the corners so it didn’t gape open.
The pants went to her ankles, and a drawstring kept them up. At least she was
covered and not expected to wear something
lewd,
or
nothing at all.

When
she stepped toward the mirror she got a look at herself for the first time in
years. There had been a few cracked and aged mirrors passed around the camps,
but she’d never been interested in looking at herself. For some reason when she
had all she saw was a woman trying to run from something that would never stop
chasing.

Her
hair was dark and long, tangled even more from the bath. She looked around,
found a comb, and started moving it through her hair. She’d had small
necessities while in hiding, but they weren’t a priority. Brushing her hair and
bathing hadn’t been the most important thing for her kind trying to stay away
from the Rogues. They’d figured out long ago that the Rogues used heat sensors
to find out where they were. A first they could go deep enough into caves that
the sensors couldn’t detect them. But the Rogues soon picked up on what they
were doing and advanced their technology.

Over
the last twenty years the Rogues had slowly changed their technology for
finding humans. The humans had even started finding minerals that blocked out
the heat signal sent off by their bodies which was able to be tracked by the
Rogues. Of course the minerals hadn’t saved them this last time. They hadn’t
been in that cave for a full day, not even enough time to find the right
minerals for everyone before they were found.

Breathing
out and setting the comb back down, she braced her hands on the stainless steel
basin and stared at her reflection. She was skinny, her cheeks slightly
hollowed, but then again not having a substantial diet of protein would do
that. They mainly lived on the few fish they could catch close to where they
were staying, berries, and even some flora that was edible. But living a hard
life and on the run was not so bad because she was alive, and with people that
she cared for.