Chapter 4
Chapter four
Mia
Prince An’On’nas scanned his hand, opening the biometric lock to the holding cell and pausing outside the door. “Do you want to do this alone, or do you want me to join you?” That seemed like an odd question.
“Will he be able to get to me?”
He popped open a compartment outside the door, pulled out a bracelet of sorts, and locked it around my wrist, scanning his fingers over a series of flashing lights that I couldn’t decipher.
I didn’t understand their technology or the symbols on their screens.
Letters and numerals, I supposed, and I studied them, looking for a pattern.
He tapped it again, and the lights dimmed.
“There’s a force field. With this on, you’ll be able to pass through it if you need to, but he will not.
” On’nas paused for a beat, then blew out a breath.
“Not that he could move very well if he wanted to escape.”
I stared down at the bracelet. “He couldn’t attack me and steal the bracelet?”
“It’s locked on you, and he’s too sick to do that, anyway. Their species is small, so he’s closer to your size. You won’t find him intimidating, and he’s not feeling well.”
I nodded. “My husband mentioned that. He wasn’t sure if I’d want to come, but I can’t just leave him in pain, can I? What will I need to do?”
“From my research, physical touch will help.” He shrugged. “You can ask him. He was embedded with the humans and speaks English fluently.”
I nodded and stepped forward, my heart thumping as I looked around the room.
Behind me, the door slid quietly closed with a slight hissing sound.
I knew Prince An’On’nas wouldn’t leave me.
He was probably waiting just on the other side of the door.
I looked around the room, which comprised a hallway and four tiny cells, three of which were empty.
The empty cells had nothing guarding them, but one cell glowed a little, a soft white light marking the force field. I stepped forward and peeked inside.
The Vul warrior, Cix, lay sprawled on an uncomfortable-looking mattress on the side of the room, and he did not look well.
His breathing seemed labored, and he didn’t even look up as I stepped into the room.
Was it a trick? I couldn’t be sure. I watched him for a moment, trying to decide if his color differed from what it had looked like when I’d first met him, and he seemed paler.
His skin was a coppery brown, covered in a pattern of darker spots, bigger than freckles, but maybe similar as they seemed to appear most where the sun would hit.
His hair was completely white, and worn in a series of intricate braids that hung down his back, but were a little messy now from days in this cell.
I couldn’t see his face, but the shape of his body was human-like, except that he had that tail, the one that had lashed out at me.
It was now wrapped around his waist as he shivered.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Not entirely sure why I should care, but are you?”
Moving seemed to be a great effort for him, and he turned slowly toward me.
His face was less human looking than the Aunga’ri - he had large, wide-set eyes and small horns that curved elegantly up from ridges in his forehead.
His ears had a bit of an elfish point to them.
But he was lovely all the same, the spots highlighting his defined cheekbones and narrow chin.
While T’ukka was big and fierce, this alien was more human-sized, not much taller than me, really. His eyes were an amber gold and when I’d first spotted him, I’d thought they had a glow to them, but now they seemed dull and lifeless.
“I think I made a mistake is all,” he muttered, his eyebrows shooting up. “Slightly suicidal. I’m sorry.”
“What did you do to me?” I asked. “I mean, the Aunga’ri have tried to explain it, but I don’t get it.”
“My tail injects a potent chemical that travels through your bloodstream into your brain. I didn’t know it would cut you off from your mate bond with the Aunga’ri… Hell, I didn’t even know the mate bond was a thing.”
I smiled. “It’s new.”
“Tell me about it. Their people are not known for their sexuality.” He blew out a breath, as if saying that many words all at once had been a trial.
“Will the effects wear off?”
“That I don’t know. You’re human, and you may be different. For our people, there’s a change in the brain that’s permanent.”
“Okay, well, what are the normal side effects?”
He laughed gruffly, rubbing his hands over his face. “You may feel an irrational urge to protect me right now. If we spent time together, you might feel… more. Sexual things.”
“And you?”
“The person who has been imprinted releases a chemical, and I need it to survive. The good doctor is trying to figure out how to replicate it in her lab so that you can continue to avoid me.”
“Does the doctor care if you die?”
“I have intel for the war. I’m a spy for Prince An’On’nas. And I’m struggling to focus right now, but I’ve given him what I can. She might not believe there’s more to give, but she is a doctor, and has taken an oath to serve the sick.”
I looked down at his eyelashes, which were long and gold-tipped, and frowned.
When had I stepped closer to him? I didn’t remember doing it, but I had moved through the force field that held him and was only inches away.
I reached out and touched him, laying a hand across his forehead.
His skin was uncomfortably hot, but he let out a quiet purring sound.
“Fuck,” he groaned, taking slow breaths. His eyes dropped close, and I skimmed my fingers down over his chin. He arched his neck, moving as if that simple touch was giving him the greatest of pleasure.
“On’nas said that I could consider what you did sexual assault. Because you bound me to you without my permission.” I couldn’t stop touching him. The way he responded was so fascinating, giving me a strange rush of control.
He shook his head slowly. “I bound myself to you, not the other way around. But yes. And I’m sorry.”
I sat for a moment and watched his body relax and his breathing steady, all apparently from my touch. His color slowly got less grey, and his body temperature dropped to something that felt more within the range of normal. “It gives you a fever?”
“It will kill me,” he said with a sigh. “Thank you. I feel much better.”
I slipped onto the cot next to him and pressed close, suddenly worried for him. “Why would you do something that would kill you?”
“It was an instinct,” he murmured, looping his hand around my waist.
“Weird instinct.” I leaned on my elbow, looking down at him.
“Well. You’ve made yourself ours now. Axel and T’ukka will fuck you senseless.
” I’d said it to mess with his head, but felt a rush of arousal at the thought of this beautiful creature with Axel’s dick in his mouth, T’ukka buried deep in his ass.
His eyes blinked open, and he stared at me, and I snuggled closer, resting my head on his chest. His tail lashed out and wrapped around me, and he sighed.
“You’d make a sweet little subby slave, wouldn’t you?”
“I have no idea what that is,” he muttered.
“Do you like to suck cock?” I asked.
“Are you saying you put people’s sexual organs in your mouth?” Cix yelped. “That’s horrifying.”
And I burst out laughing, shaking my head.