18. Motivations
EIGHTEEN
MOTIVATIONS
Syasku
Restrained and muzzled, I look at the room around me.
Ursula settles in the seat across from me. Between us is a metal table. Gone are the medical machines, the flashing lights, and their incessant beeping; gone are the scalpels and masked humans draining me of fluids. They have all been replaced by a barren soundproof room with a few pieces of bolted-down furniture.
Once I am deemed restrained and awake enough to proceed, Ursula’s armed humans retreat, leaving me alone with her and Pierce. He walks behind me and releases the muzzle, striking the electricity one more time, momentarily blacking out my vision. By the time it is over, my mouth is filled with blood and my head is free. The smell of my burned flesh coats the insides of my nostrils.
I spit out the blood. Returning to Ursula’s side, Pierce stops next to a table with a rolled-up cloth on it. Scowling, he glares at me. “I’ve recently received word that an entire regimen of my men has been slaughtered by your kind. They were good men, following orders, who were butchered at their camp. One of the surviving scouts found this wrapped around a branch.” He unfolds the cloth, revealing a spine.
A small spine. A human spine.
Tilting my head, I arch a brow, drawing my eyes from it and back to him. “I do not control what the others do.”
“Why would they leave this out?”
“It is a warning.”
“A warning of what? Future hostile relations against us?”
“If your men are dead, there is a reasssson.”
Pierce throws the cloth back over the spine. “This is an act of war.” He levels with me, leaning forward. “What’s the warning? Take a guess.”
I bare my fangs and my eyes narrow. “We are territorial.”
“Over thirty of my men died. They died on land belonging to humans.” He points to the covered spine. “This is more than a territorial dispute.”
“You think the land belongs to you?” I scoff. “Until recently there were no humans. If you want to claim the land, you will need to fight for it. No naga will leave their territory willingly. Not for another naga, let alone a human.”
Pierce glares at me, his slick white hair and whiskery mustache pronouncing the fury written across his face. Except I notice something else as his eyes squint… He is sizing me up, judging my lethality in a way he has not before. He is wondering how dangerous I truly am—or could be.
“You mean to tell me one naga butchered thirty well-armed soldiers because we happened to be on his land?”
“It is posssssible.”
“If it were your territory, would you have done the same?”
Until now, I have been asked many things, often in different ways. The first time Ursula brought me here, the topics ranged from the way my body works to culture, language, and my origins. But this is the first time I have been told anything about what is currently happening back home.
More humans have landed and now those humans are dead, killed by my kind. Several come to mind as to who might have done it.
I took part in Zaku’s hunt. I did not capture one of the females traded, yet am aware that the King Cobra caught at least one of them. Other than that… I have been within my wetlands, where I had returned empty-handed to lick my wounds.
I consider his question and answer him as I would have before I was captured and tortured. “I would not kill humans passing through my territory if that was all they were doing.” I spit more blood—and a little venom.
“Then why are my men dead?”
“Some are more aggressive than others.” My mind races with the news. A part of me is thrilled, desperate to have my own vengeance, but the other… “Were there femalessss stationed among them?”
“There was one, and she is missing. We know you want our women, naga, but one fucking woman can’t be worth thirty lives!”
If the female were Vivian, I would risk my life against thirty males. “I would disagree,” I growl.
Pierce opens his mouth to say more when Ursula lifts her hand to stop him. “We know you put a great deal of worth on females, naga and human alike, because yours are gone. What Pierce is trying to say is that war between us will happen if these acts of aggression continue, do you understand?”
I slide my tongue over my fangs. “Yessss.”
“How can we avoid further death for both our species? Besides territory or mate procurement, are there any other reasons your kind would attack us?”
“We will defend ourselves.”
“Obviously.”
“The spine left behind is a warning.” My hands clench. “If you found it wrapped around a branch, then it is meant as a deterrent to stop others from entering a territory. It is a trophy that is not kept, but shared with whoever may come across it.”
“So then why is one of my ships missing!?” Pierce shouts.
Pausing, I peer around the sparse room finding how little a place like this has to offer. “I do not know.”
“I don’t think you’re telling us everything.”
“We do not have shipssss,” I hiss, frustrated. “We have no use for them besides shelter and parts.”
“Let’s change the subject.” Ursula sits forward. “We are hunting down a woman who stole something of great value and was spotted near where you were captured. If we find out someone has helped her escape… It would not be good for them. Whose territories are near yours?”
I had caught a female briefly, only to lose her. The Boomslang sought to steal her from me, and it was during that fight that I was taken. Could that be the female she refers to?
Azsote would never let her leave Earth. He, like many others, is desperate for a bride. To share such information and put him in danger, leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
And then there is Asera, who resides within my territory. “There are some who roam… who do not have a territory of their own.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” Pierce snaps, anger brimming his words.
“We are secretive, even with each other.”
He points the electrical rod at me. “I have intel that it was a group of nagas who attacked my men, not one. Last session you told Dr. Ursula your kind has little to do with one another. That clans, as you call them, no longer exist. From my reports, what you’re telling us are lies. Clans do exist and nagas do work together. How are we to believe anything you say?”
My nostrils flare as my gaze flicks between Ursula and Pierce. “I have not lied. The female you are searching for… does she have short yellow hair?”
“Why?” Pierce demands.
My fingers twitch, eager to claw his face off. “I saw a female with hair like that before my capture.”
There is a pause as Pierce and Ursula share a look. “We’ve combed the forest near there and found nothing except an abandoned treehouse.” Pierce looks back at me. “What happened after you saw this woman with yellow hair?”
“I was attacked by another of my species and she ran.”
“Is that all? Which direction?”
“The treessss,” I hiss, angry again about the events of that day and what was taken from me. “Perhaps you would have caught her instead of me if your males had been more aware.”
Pierce strides over and throws his fist into my face. My head snaps back and then he hits me again. Blood gushes from my nose and into my already bloody mouth. Recovering, I snap at him.
“That’s enough, Pierce! I need him to be conscious. We have a lot planned for today’s session.”
He backs off, cupping his fist in his hand, looking down at me like stopping is the last thing he wants to do. “I have some business to take care of anyway,” he scowls. “But I’ll be back.”
Ursula waves him off. “Go.”
He grabs the folded cloth with the spine and storms out of the room. I lick the blood off my lips.
Unfazed by the violence, Ursula calmly reads over the screen in her hand. “Now that that’s over. You are getting along with Vivian, I see,” she states without looking up. “When you are returned to her, you should tell her about the woman you saw. She’ll find it interesting.”
Ursula gives me a cold smile.
The mention of Vivian stirs my prick, recalling the shocking pleasure of her tongue licking it, and me unable to do anything for fear I would hurt her.
She put her mouth on me.
There.
My bound tail tries to coil. I have never felt pleasure like that, have never even held another before her. It is worth the pain. It is worth thirty lives. More.
“Why?” I ask.
Ursula’s smile grows colder.
“What happened under the blanket today?”
A low warning hiss escapes me. I do not want to talk to her about Vivian. I do not want to talk to anyone about her.
“Did she touch you, or you her? Your pheromones are potent. Some of the women you denied have asked to be put back into the room with you.”
I stare her down. “It would be pointlesssss. I do not want another.”
She stands, and walking around the table, stops at my side. “Release your cock.”
I snap forward, hoping to frighten her. “I will speak. If you want more from me, you will have to take it by force or offer me something in return.”
“Ah, negotiation and bargaining, Syasku. I am fine with force.” She pulls out a pair of gloves from her pocket and tugs them on.
A dark, rumbling hiss grows in my chest. My tail flexes, wanting to strike out.
She reaches for my slit, and I jerk forward as far as my restraints allow me.
She does not flinch, placing her hand on my tail. Her lack of fear is infuriating. But I should not be surprised. She has me restrained— collared . Why would she fear me?
“Do you know your seed can’t be frozen or stored, at least not for long? No method can keep it viable longer than a couple of hours at most unless it has a living host to bond to. A failsafe created by previous scientists of Genesis-8, no doubt.”
Genesis-8… again . The more she brings it up, the more it intrigues me. She referred to it during the last session, but at that point I was unaware of its existence. She has made it clear she could care less about what the others want from me—Genesis-8 may be all that matters to her.
“It’s quite annoying and is making it hard to work with.”
She digs her fingers into my slit, prying it apart.
I cringe, gritting my teeth, despising her hands on me there, and the way her fingers push at my slit. I hiss, baring my fangs at her, craving to kill her where she stands.
There is a loud noise and my attention diverts. I discover my left arm has partially broken free, and the metal armrest I am bound to is bent at an angle.
Ursula pauses her prying, eyes my loosened arm, and takes a step back. “Hmm.”
“I will kill you.” I will see her blood pooled and her bones broken.
A flash of annoyance crosses her face. “Fine, let’s negotiate. I don’t have time to put you under. What do you want?”
“If you touch me again, I will make your death painful and slow,” I warn. “Killing you is what I want.”
“Very well. Have it your way.”
She strides away and ducks outside, returning with another electrical prod. Moving my partially free arm, I try yanking the armrest the rest of the way from the chair. She watches my free limb as she gets behind me and presses the end of the rod to my neck.
I brace for the shock but it does not come.
Producing a glass vial from her pocket, she holds it out for me to see. Pulling the rod from my neck, she shoves the table away. Climbing over my tail, she moves in front of me.
Ignoring my growl, she thrusts her hand into my slit. Enraged, I am unable to stop my throbbing erection from emerging, and she takes it in her gloved hand.
The tip is still shiny from Vivian’s mouth.
For a moment I picture her hand instead of Ursula’s as she clamps my knot. Placing the vial at my tip, she catches the seed that involuntarily releases. Having what she needs, she walks away and seals the vial.
Venom trickling from my fangs, fury encapsulates my vision. I continue yanking at the armrest as she examines the viscous liquid in the glass, holding it up to the light.
She uncorks it, shifts her mask to the side, tips the vial back, and swallows my seed. Closing her eyes, she shudders and puts the empty vial into her pocket.
Confusion joins my fury, and I momentarily stop fighting my restraints.
Straightening, she turns and levels her eyes on me. “Let’s keep this between ourselves, why don’t we? We’ll find out soon whether or not I’m wrong.” She takes a sip of water from a bottle, then picks up the rectangular device she was reading earlier like nothing happened. “Now, have you ever seen or encountered weapons like these?” She shows me a picture and I barely see it, my thoughts too scattered and filled with death and disgust.
She smiles when all I can do is stare.
Except this time it’s not a cold smile—it reaches her eyes.