Pradorian Mate (6 page)

His breath caught in his lungs as if someone had punched him in the abdomen. He ached to be rid of the urges he was feeling, he made an effort to subdue the need growing within, reminding himself that he wasn’t a savage who took advantage of a fruit-drugged woman, regardless of the arousal he felt. He knew Sara needed to rest. She had an exhausting night, and with that thought in mind, he entered the room. As the door slid closed behind him, he slowly walked toward the bed without making a sound. He gently lay down next to her, trying his best not to disturb her slumber. As he lay there, he tried hard to relax and ignore the incessant desire he felt for her.

* * *

When Sara woke, she stared into the dark room for a moment or two, trying to adjust her sleepy eyes. After a few moments, her sight became clearer.  The granite ceiling and the leather-covered chair at one end of the room came into focus. Her gaze then fell on a long blue-black hand laid across her abdomen, as if it was holding her captive were she lay.

Archail lay on his side next to her. His naked thigh touched her long but much smaller leg, and his steady breathing softly blew down her slender neck. His blue hair tickled her cheek lightly. He appeared to be in a deep sleep.

Sara lay still, too scared to move. How had she ended up in bed with him? She tried to remember at what point she had gotten into bed with this large, intimidating alien, but she couldn’t recall going to bed with him at all. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain he wasn’t there when she went to bed.

Her stomach tightened with fear. Had anything happened last night that she couldn’t recall? She searched her mind for any unusual memories, but nothing came. She blushed at the thought that she might have had sex with this alien male, even if it was while she was sleeping.

Sara looked carefully at Archail, who was still asleep. He appeared surprisingly peaceful, and Sara thought he could even be classed as handsome. Hard lines shaped his face, and his high cheekbones stood out starkly against his smooth skin. He had a straight nose that was almost human aside from the color. His lips looked soft, yet they were slightly thinner than Sara’s. A strong, square jaw gave him a definite air of power. His body, on the other hand, was a perfect sculpture of outlined muscles from his shoulders down to his broad chest. His abdomen was lean yet muscular, and he had long, bulging legs.

She decided he resembled a dark blue angel, subconsciously smiling before mentally chastising herself for being so naive. She wondered if she was still under the effect of the drug to think this way. While he had saved her from drowning and taken the time to feed her, she couldn’t forget that this thing had drugged her. She reminded herself that he was an alien who only wanted her for breeding purposes, and that fact alone put her in grave danger.

Holding her breath, she slid quietly from under his hand and lowered it carefully onto the soft mattress. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and tried to be as gentle as possible while standing up. A male voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. She turned to find two yellow-flecked eyes staring at her from the darkness.

“
Where are you going?”

“
I…need water.” She felt like a child having to explain why she was out of bed. He didn’t need to know where she was going, and she didn’t need his permission. Yet still, he maintained the piercing stare, his every muscle moving with cat-like precision as he slid off the bed. He walked toward her and stopped about a foot away, close enough for him to reach over and touch her skin with his slender fingers.

“
You are very pleasant to look at. Everything appears to be where it should be.”

Sara’s thoughts softened at the odd compliment before instantly returning to rage. “I’m not here to please you. You’re holding me prisoner for your entertainment. And for your information, everything is not where it should be!
I
am not where I should be. I should be on Earth, in the ground, resting.”

Archail’s fingers curled into a fist and dropped to his side. A heavy sigh escaped him as he walked over to open the door. He glanced back over his shoulder. “You are here to help us. You are under the impression that we use human females like livestock, but you are wrong. Each of our females is ours and ours alone. As I said before, you will be given a choice. Do you not understand this?”

“I understand that you hold innocent women prisoner and treat them like property.”

Archail left the doorway and stormed toward her, stopping only inches from her face. His eyes and dark blue figure seemed much more imposing now. “We are not the licentious monsters you make us out to be. We are an intelligent and efficient society, but even one such as you, human, would die out if you couldn’t reproduce with your own species.”

Sara frowned in confusion. “Why would that happen to you? What exactly is the problem here on this planet?”

Archail’s nostrils flared once as he exhaled before turning to walk away. “It’s none of your business, or even your problem.” He strode through the door into the other room, leaving her alone.

Chapter 5

As the door closed behind Archail, leaving her standing alone in his cave bedroom, Sara stomped her foot down like a petulant child. She then marched toward the door, trying to find a way to open it. “You can’t keep me here against my will. I won’t stand for it. You hear me?” She thumped the door with her fists when it failed to respond to her searching hands.

She was caught unprepared when the door suddenly opened moments after her outburst. Archail stood at the narrow opening, perusing her body indignantly with his yellow eyes. “You are right. You are not worth it.” He then dismissively turned his back on her and marched out of the sitting area without another word.

Sara fumed, lips pressed tightly together, at the absurd treatment by this alien. “He must be deranged or something,” she murmured to herself, as she left the bedroom. She revived her resolution to escape. She had been wrong to believe she could learn something by observing this being in its cave.

Although he had admitted there was some sort of problem with their breeding, he hadn’t provided any more details about it. She honestly didn’t care enough to stay around any longer and find out.
Anyway, he’s being an ass,
she thought decisively, as she reached the main cave entrance. Imitating the alien’s movements, she tried to find a way to open it, unwilling to stay locked up any longer.

“
How on Earth does this door open?” she screamed in frustration, after several attempts at opening the main door. She had searched for a special button, but she didn’t feel anything unusual on the surface. She had tried pulling it apart with her bare hands, and when that didn’t work, she tried kicking it open. The door remained closed, however, separating her from freedom.

“
Open sesame,” she finally blurted out in desperation, as she threw a small punch at the hard wall. A sharp pain coursed through her fingers and wrist, causing her to involuntarily scream a series of profanities. She tightly held her hand until the pain subsided.

This is stupid.
She looked around the room, trying to find something that would help her open the heavy door. She wasn’t ready to give up yet. She looked for something like a crowbar, something strong and pointy, but there was nothing until her eyes fell on a large table. She approached the table, recalling the night before when he had used a huge knife to cut up fruit.

Sara searched carefully among the colored food on the table until she finally found what she was looking for. She picked it up with a grin of satisfaction before heading decisively back to the rock door. On reaching it, she immediately started searching with her fingertips for some sort of crack or slit. When she found one just below head height, she worked the thick tip of the knife into it. She then pulled her weight backward while holding the knife’s handle, trying to budge the thick wall. To her dismay, the rock hadn’t moved in the slightest, yet her hands hurt and her arm muscles protested something awful. Sara was too stubborn to stop now. “Here goes nothing, girl.”

Shock slammed through her when the huge door moved slowly. She got ready to pull again, but the door continued opening on its own. She lost her balance and fell back, her soft butt hitting the hard tiled floor.

Realizing something else must have caused the door to open, she quickly stood up, not sparing time to rub her sore behind. With the large knife still in her hand, she placed her back against the wall next to a protruding stone. She held the knife ready to take whoever was standing outside by surprise.

Sara’s heart pounded like crazy in her chest when a big Pradorian male entered the softly lit hall of the cave. He didn’t seem to notice her. It was as if Sara had become one with the wall. She even held her breath to avoid making any sound.

This is my chance.
He passed by and stood with his back to her as he inspected the room. She moved quickly toward the open exit while trying to make as little noise as possible. As soon as she was through the door, she stopped momentarily to adjust her eyes to the daylight before running as fast as she could toward the vast forest.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Archail returned to his cave. He still felt foul- tempered and annoyed with his young captive, especially when he considered what he had just agreed with the council to do for her safety. At the same time, a thought nagged at him from the depths of his soul. Maybe he was the one at fault in this situation rather than poor Sara. After all, she only wanted a reasonable explanation for finding herself on a strange world surrounded by a species that was new and unfamiliar to her.

During his long lifetime, he had always considered himself to be a reasonable Pradorian, but he found this current situation too troublesome for his own liking. Yet he couldn’t stop. Admitting it to himself made him even more upset.

He was about to enter his cave when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Dar, his second in command, standing there watching him wearily.

“
What is it, Dar?” Archail’s voice was deep and hard and conveyed his annoyance.

“
She is gone, my great Vasil.”  Dar’s voice was almost a whisper, yet a glint of satisfaction lit his eyes.

“
Who is gone?” Archail noted Dar’s hesitation.

“
The female you held, my great one.”

Archail stared at him dumbfounded for an instant before realizing what he had said. Rage surged through him, like an animal ready to pounce on its prey and rip it limb from limb.

Dar backed away a few steps in alarm.

“
How did she get out?” Archail stepped forward, causing the other man to back away a few more steps. “I am waiting…” boomed his leader’s voice.

“
I… I opened the door, great one.” Dar swallowed hard.

Archail squeezed his hands into fists, trying to control his anger. “When did this happen?”
How long Sara had been gone and what dangers could she be in?

“
This morning, my great one.” Sweat dotted his forehead.

“
You fool!” Archail growled at him as he turned and placed his palm on the stone. The door opened in response, and Archail walked into his cave.

Archail searched the table in his sitting room, throwing fruit carelessly around in the process.

When Archail came out of the cave, he barked, “She took my crasher.” He frowned to think of her out there alone with a heavy sharp combat knife, used mainly for hunting large animals and fighting shredders, a nomadic tribe that stalked the forest at night, killing everything they got their hands on.

When his leader started striding toward the forest with decisively long steps, Dar suddenly jumped into motion and followed him. “My great Vasil, maybe it’s better that she left. Now we don’t have to be responsible for her.”

Archail suddenly stopped, turning back toward Dar as if in slow motion, he pinned Dar with a vicious stare. He spoke from between clenched teeth. “Pray to the moons she is unharmed, because if she isn’t, I will return and slowly slice you open and display your hanging guts for a week.”

Dar swallowed hard, not daring to say another word.

* * *

Sara had run for dear life all through the day. The ground had proven to be treacherous, and she had tripped over broken branches many times. Her feet kept getting caught in strange grass fibers that took time to get free of, making her escape more difficult and tiresome. As night fell, she moved carefully, slower among the tall trees so she could better avoid the traps concealed in the forest floor.

She had heard unfamiliar sounds throughout the day, but at night, the forest seemed even more mysterious and unworldly. Long shadows danced eerily around her, reminding her of frightening stories she had heard during her life on Earth. Stories of vicious creatures that prowled in the night, searching for prey and devouring it before it could even begin to defend itself. Now here she was, feeling like one of those trapped animals. The danger could be everywhere around her, and she had no idea which direction would lead her to safety again.

Sara sat behind some thick bushes to rest her feet, which ached from overuse. Her calf muscles had cramped, and her hands didn’t feel much better, thanks to all the fighting she’d needed to do with the leaves and plants of this planet.