Second Chance (8 page)

38 Second Chance

“Such language toward the men who brought you such pleasure.” Darion shook his head as he reached out and wrapped his hand around her arm. “Your anger is understandable, but we won’t allow you to use it as a weapon to hold us at a distance. You’re our mate and we won’t allow you to try to deny it.”

Laci glared at him. “You’re so arrogant and you obviously think I’m an idiot and easily led. I’ll admit that you seduced me, that I couldn’t resist you. But it changes nothing. So you’re good at sex. I’m sure you’ve had enough practice at it to know every trick, every move. There are other people in the galaxies who could probably do the same.”

“Not to you.” A triumphant laugh rolled from Alek’s lips. This time, there would be no mistakes. She would belong only to them. “You don’t know anything of what you are, Laci.”

“What are you crowing about?” Laci hissed, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“You are a Norik female. When a Norik female has sex with her mate—or mates in your case—for the first time, her body tunes to their sperm, their chemistry. Your body will respond only to our touch. You’ll feel repelled—even sickened—if another man touches you.” Alek’s saw Laci’s fists clench.

“During the first twenty-four hours, your body will be receptive, and after that the seal is set.” Darion pressed his again-hard cock against her hips. “That’s why you’ll be a well-loved woman tonight and into tomorrow. You will be filled with our seed. Your body knows what will happen. It’s already heating, your desire rising in preparation.”

Laci swallowed. The scent of her arousal rose around them as if to confirm part of their tale. She looked from Darion on her left to Alek on her right. “What other surprises do you have waiting for me?”

“There are other things we’ll reveal in time, but the only other thing we have to tell you now is that your friend was also brought aboard. She has been made comfortable. Her mate isn’t on this ship.” Alek stepped forward as he bent and nuzzled her neck. “We will take this discussion to the bed where we can talk in comfort.”

39 Rebecca Airies

Chapter Six

Laci opened her eyes and knew she was alone in the bed. She was thankful for whatever situation had called the two men away. They were insatiable and she needed some time to think. She could vaguely recall eating at some point during the night. Over and over again, all through the night and into the next day, they’d awakened her and every time they touched her, her body was instantly ready. She could hardly believe that just two days had passed since they’d brought her aboard the ship.

Wet warmth had flowed from her pussy, a coiling desire had tightened within her and her clit had become hard, aching. Her breasts had swollen, her nipples hardened and became more sensitive than she had ever before noticed. She couldn’t even claim that Alek and Darion had seduced her every time. There had been times during the night when the desire became so intense that she had attacked one of them in order to alleviate it.

Laci abruptly cut off that line of thinking. Her body was responding to her thoughts with hardened nipples and a rush of creamy fluid from her slit. She stretched her legs and body, expecting some soreness after the sexual marathon, but found only a little tenderness in the muscles of her groin. She grimaced at the stickiness of her thighs and decided that showering again was first on her list of priorities.

Laci took her time in the shower, letting the warm water soothe her. When she stepped from the shower, her body was still a little sensitive. Her breasts were still swollen, the tips hard, tight points. Warm air rushed up over her, drying her and making her curly hair even more wild than normal. She walked out into the room, intent on finding some clothing before those two men returned.

She came to an abrupt stop when she noticed Alek and Darion lounging on the black couch. Their eyes ran over her with possessive heat. She took a cautious step forward. They had to be tired, she assured herself. Surely they hadn’t slept.

“I need some clothing. I can’t just go around naked.” Laci bit her lip. She was surprised at the sound of her voice. She couldn’t remember ever hearing that soft, husky tone before today.

Darion smiled, his brown eyes traveling over her body with heated intent. “It’s true that if you remained like that you’d be a very big distraction. It would be hard to get any work done at all.”

“Unless we were working on her,” Alek offered with a grin. Laci could clearly see the ridge of his erection already pressed against the tight cloth of his pants. “You’re lovely, your body glowing, fresh from your shower. Just the sight of you makes me itch to feel your soft skin, to feel the heat as you come alive under our touch.”

40 Second Chance

Alek stood and went to one of the doors along the opposite wall. It slid open at his touch on a small pad. He pulled out a shimmering, jewel-blue confection. He walked over to her and handed her the slinky, short garment.

Laci stood there, waiting for a moment, expecting more than just the dress. They were men, but they knew about the essentials of clothing. With a dress this short, some form of undergarment was a must and a woman of her breast size didn’t just go around without some kind of support.

“Aren’t you going to put it on?” Darion raised his brow as she stood there holding the dress. “You did ask for it.”

“Where is the rest of it? I need underwear,” Laci informed them, realizing as she spoke that the oversight was deliberate. “I know it’s been a long time for you, but there are just certain times that a woman needs underwear.”

“You won’t need them for a while,” Alek stated. “And I like knowing that you will be open to our touch, ready for us.”

Laci barely restrained a frustrated growl as she glared at the two smiling men. She had lingerie that was made of more material than this. She slipped into the dress. Two straps brought the silky material up over her breasts, fastening at the back of her neck. It bared her arms and back. Fitted at the waist, the material flowed over her hips and the skirt was so short that she did not dare bend at the waist.

“What about shoes?” Laci demanded. “If I venture out of this room, those hard-soled boots you men wear will crush my toes before you even feel them.” She suspected that they were deliberately baiting her, enjoying watching her temper rise.

“We have shoes for you
and
you get to wear them.” Darion gave her a wide smile. “It is time for the last injections and for you to be examined by our physician.”

She watched as Darion went to the table and returned with a package. Taking the lid off it, he handed her a pair of black, open-toed high heels. Laci prayed for patience as she took them. She could envision what the complete ensemble would look like. She was certain that she could be mistaken for a prostitute—a cheap one at that. She didn’t think she would ever get used to wearing such revealing clothing.

“Can’t I just have my boots back?” Laci knew the answer, but she had to ask. They would decide everything for her if she let them.

“No, they were destroyed when we took care of your pants.” Darion seemed delighted and much too cheerful as he imparted that information.

“You must prove that you can be trusted before we give you more choices in your attire.” Alek bemusedly watched the angry color rise in her cheeks.

She wanted to strangle them both. “I’ll probably be stuck wearing these things for a while then.” Laci slipped into the delicate-looking spiked heels. She buckled the straps and then stood. She flipped her hair back over her shoulders, put her hands on her hips and glared at the two grinning oafs. “I hope you’re happy. I look like a whore.”

41 Rebecca Airies

“No, you don’t.” Darion frowned, his back stiffening. He looked offended. All that was missing was his finger shaking in her face. “You look sexy, soft and enticing. The clothing has nothing to do with it. It’s just pretty wrapping. You’d look sexy in a shapeless dress that covered you from your neck to the tips of your pretty little toes.”

“As to being happy, yes, we are.” Alek walked over to her and took her hand in his. “Happy is a vast understatement. Joy and bliss come closer to describing the state of our emotions at finding you. I woke countless times during the night wondering if this was yet another dream.”

“You’re with us. We have been looking for you and then you just stumble upon us. I haven’t been so happy, so content, in a very long time.” Darion’s smile held an almost frightening intensity and sincerity as his eyes roamed over her face. “But you won’t believe such a proclamation, just yet.”

“That reminds me.” Laci tugged at her hand that was engulfed by Alek’s. “How did you find me? It should have been impossible. That planet was so remote that it was known only by a number designation.”

“Ah, little Laci,” Darion chuckled as he strode over to her. “You carried the means inside you.” His arm curled around her waist. “We ensured that we would be able to find you before we had taken you down to Viaga. We weren’t willing to chance waiting for another accidental meeting.”

Laci wondered if he was lying. “What are you talking about? I checked myself for trackers at least four times. There were none on me. When I returned home, I was checked by others as well.”

“We didn’t activate it until about six days before you came to X-R321. Until then, it wouldn’t have registered on any scanner. It emitted no signal, was totally inert.” Alek’s lips crooked into a lopsided grin. “We hoped to find you at your base. There are many men who search for their mates.”

“You…” Laci’s body tensed, her fist clenched ready to swing at one of them. They had played with her like a big predator did with its prey. She had thought she was free, that the first capture had been a mistake, but they had just been waiting to spring their trap. This she could no longer deny.

Darion’s arm tightened around her waist. “I’m willing to let you vent your anger, but I won’t go through another tirade like last night’s battle. Struggling and cursing us will do you no good. You know this. Now, if you walk beside us—peacefully—we will answer a few of the questions you have.”

It was a tough choice. She wanted to yell at them and hit them, but she did have some questions. She weighed the importance of the questions against her anger. They were just stubborn enough to deny her the answers if she didn’t cooperate with them.

With obvious reluctance, she relaxed. It was a matter of priorities. She’d ask her questions. She could yell and fight later.

“Where did you put the tracker?” Laci narrowed her eyes. The choices were many and varied. Any wound left from its insertion would have been healed and the scar

42 Second Chance

gone by the time she had returned home. “And why did you capture me the first time? I thought you must have picked me up in error, instead of someone else.”

“Now,
be’rai
, telling you would make it too easy. I’m sure you’ll discover where we put it sooner or later.” Alek’s hand gently cupped the back of her head.

Darion dropped a soft kiss on her forehead. “We meant to take you both times. When we picked you up the first time, we thought you might be working with our enemies. We had to make sure you weren’t before we let you wander free around our ship.”

Well, that at least explained the way they’d treated her at first. She had to take the opportunities to learn what she could about the men when they came to her. Information about the Norik was sketchy with the exception of the information gained from commercial news organizations about their zealous protection of the trade that they had established and the many powerful ships they possessed. That told her nothing about how many of them there were, where they were going and just how difficult it would be for her to escape.

“Just how many of you…Norik are there?” Laci chose her words carefully. Anger swirled within her. Most of it was directed toward herself. She should have guessed that they wouldn’t just let her go and had more extensive tests done.

“How many women did they clone?” Alek smoothed his thumb down the elegant line of her spine in a soft caress.

“You said that you would answer, not play word games.” Laci frowned in irritation. She wasn’t in the mood to have every question answered with a question. She was holding onto her temper by a thread. The urge to hit them was still strong.

“Darion said that. Humor me. Tell me. How many Third Generation women are there?”

“Over seventeen thousand, made in separate labs,” Laci rolled her eyes. With the confiscation of so many records, they knew exactly how many females had been created. “We have contact with some of them, can’t find others.”

“There are just over eighteen thousand Norik. When you add in the five thousand men of the Second Gen, you will discover just how many lives the scientists toyed with.” Alek’s eyes darkened. “So many lives were destroyed by the scientists’ experiments. Nothing can mitigate the suffering and misery that has been caused over the years.”

“The fact that there are more men than there are women—is that why some men share one woman? Is that why you’re both Jatohn”

Alek angled his body toward hers and brushed his lips across her neck in a fleeting caress. “Amongst our people, there have always been more males born than females. So the numbers are part of it. Strength is another reason we join together. Two are stronger than one. In our culture, the men who are strongest lead.”

“What did they do to you? You said they caused suffering and misery.”