Chapter 9
Holly
Being raised by a career military man, Holly wasn't unaccustomed to strong men.
It was the first time she had been literally swept off her feet without even so much a grunt of effort though.
Romival was holding her up with seemingly no effort.
His pecs, under her hand, weren't even straining as he suspended all her weight on his arms. He didn't lean back, didn't try to redistribute her weight over his torso. She was only on his arms.
And Romival wasn't even considered strong by domini standards.
A fire burned in her belly as her pussy clenched with longing.
She couldn't even pretend this time that she wasn't lusting after the alien.
She could feel the dampness between her thighs, the racing of her heart, the swoop in her belly.
Those sensations couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
And she was too distracted by his three, beautiful, blue eyes to remember why it was a bad idea to be so easily entranced by him.
The growl only made it worse. Or better. So much better. The sound of it rumbled through her body, vibrating her all over.
Domini growls weren't like the throaty sound humans made to simulate a growl.
It was an actual, deep in the chest, animalistic growl.
She heard them all the time now. They were practically part of the language.
It could be made angry and savage for fighting – which is how she often heard it.
Growls could also be sweet and crooning, like she heard Atem give to Peony sometimes.
Young domini who hadn't grown into their growl yet purred and it was adorable to hear.
This was the first time she'd heard the growl being used sexually though. And there was a definite difference in the tone. Her entire body shivered as goosebumps broke out over her skin. She felt like she was being hunted in the best way.
Or more accurately, considering she was already in his arms, like the beast had caught her and was making a wordless promise of what he would do next.
“Erm, you can... put me down,” she said, her voice breathless and weak.
“You have not yet told me how I compare,” he said, for though his gaze was hot, his lust clearly roused, he had asked a question and he wanted an answer. A dog with a bone.
“Well, er,” she shifted a bit, but his arms tightened, keeping her in place.
“Some human men can do this, but n-not this easily.
Or for this long. Or without probably doing a lot of work outs first. And I can't think of many who can lift me up and stand at the same time.
That's some strong men competition stuff.”
Romival's lip curled. “Your males are so weak that only the strongest can do this? How are they supposed to carry their mates?”
“Their mates carry themselves.”
“Only because they cannot do it. Shameful.”
“No,” she laughed, more nervous than amused. “A woman... er, a female, is supposed to be able to carry herself. Strong, independent woman and all that.”
He frowned. “Why would you wish for independence? You don't want to rely on anyone? That seems not only shortsighted but outright foolish.”
“No. No,” she laughed more genuinely this time. “That's not what that means. Saying you're a strong, independent woman means that you don't need a male.”
He only looked more confused. “So, females that need other females?”
“No, not attraction. It's like, er, ‘I don't need no man to pay my way or take care of me’, kind of thing. I can do it myself.” Her attempt to sound sassy flopped pitifully.
And Romival's confusion only deepened, now battling with concern on his face. “Why would you ever wish that? To be alone? A male is supposed to take care of his female.”
“I mean, yeah. Sure. That's what a relationship is about, right? Taking care of each other. But you can't just become completely dependent on a guy to take care of you.”
“Why ever not?”
“Well, I mean, what if something happens to him?
Or what if he stops wanting to be with you?
What if he treats you bad so you have to get away?
That's how abusive relationships start, you know?
The abuser makes you dependent on them. So, you have to retain some ability to take care of yourself, so you don't fall into that... trap...”
Her words faded in died at the look of absolute horror that froze Romival's face.
“Your males abuse you?!” He asked, his growl gone as shock stole it from his chest.
“Well, no. Not all men, of course not.”
“Why did you say it like that?!”
“That's not-... No, it's like a 'just in case' kind of thing. You can't tell who an abuser is by looking. You have to take some precautions.”
“No, you do not!” His growl was back, his arms tightening around her further. “How common is this that you must take precautions against it? Have you ever had a pleasure mate harm you?”
“No, of course, I haven't. Most men aren't bad. It's just, like, being aware of your surroundings at night. You know that not all men are going to attack you, but it only takes one and-… crap, this isn't actually doing anything to calm you down.”
He was vibrating now. With the force of his growl and his anger. His grip on her wasn't painful, but it was so tight that she couldn't even wiggle anymore. He had clutched her to his chest as though afraid someone might come to rip her away.
“Females cannot even walk around at night on your Earth?” He asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Holly opened her mouth to assure him that of course they could, but the protest immediately died because that was an outright lie. It was safe to walk around at night in well-lit, well-populated, known safe areas. She didn't think those stipulations would actually help her case any.
Not that silence did any better as Romival's fangs gleamed as he snarled.
“Really, it's fine,” she assured him quickly. “It's not all men. There are just a few bad apples.”
“A few, but enough that you must be cautious that your own males do not attack or abuse you. I must confess, Holly, you are giving me incredible incentive to find your Earth so that we might be able to protect the females trapped upon it with males that are strong enough to hurt you but not strong enough to protect you.”
“You're blowing this way out of proportion,” she mumbled, but her protests were weak, even to her ears. “There's plenty of good men. Like, my dad! He's never hurt me. And my brothers. There, six males that have all treated me really well and not one that didn't.”
His eyes narrowed and she realized, too late, she said something wrong again. Though, she didn't know what it could be until-
“Do you mean to imply there was a possibility that your own sire would harm you?”
“Of course, not! My dad is a good guy. He'd never hurt his kids.”
He heard what she wasn't saying, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Are there males who would harm their own offspring?”
She hesitated just a bit too long, trying to find the right thing to say.
“I will find your Earth,” he promised on a growl. “And your females will be protected.”
“That's so not...” She sighed. “Come on. You act like abuse is unheard of here. You mean to tell me that not a single male on Turv ever hurt his mates or kids? Or that rape is an unknown concept in the greater universe?”
“Oh, it is known,” he assured her with a snarl. “In mentally deranged individuals. And the punishments for such crimes are harsh as suiting the deed. No sane male would ever harm his mate or offspring and only the vilest would force himself on a female.”
“Yeah, I'm sure,” she mumbled, and he suddenly glared at her.
“You believe I'm lying?”
“I mean, they say the same things on Earth, so...” That was as much a confession as he was going to get about the frequency of such crimes on her home planet.
Romival suddenly put her back on her feet. Not so fast that she lost her balance, but she was startled. He didn't let her go, however, keeping one arm around her waist as he summoned his combot. With a wave of his hand, he began searching through the subnet.
“Statistics,” he said, showing her graphs she didn't understand how to read. It looked like a line graph, dots on an axis connected by lines that were all rather straight and stable. She didn't actually understand the two axes, but she had a general idea of what she was looking at.
“Guardians are in charge of law on Turv,” Romival explained to her.
“Both the execution and the punishment. Scholars study it. Learn trends. Help implement new laws and design punishments and programs for law breakers. These are the most common crimes on Turv. This line-” he pointed to the highest line, “-is how many violent crimes there were in that third of the year. This one-” he pointed to the next line down, “-is for thefts.
This one is fraud. And this one is for murder.
Accidental or deliberate. These are the most common crimes on Turv.
I study them a lot so I can make sure they're brought lower. So our society can be made safer. Do you know what is not on this graph? Rape or abuse.”
Holly bit her lips, looking over the data.
The numbers were stable. She didn't know the percentage or whatever scale he was using, but she didn't think it was high.
Hattie and Alanna left the palace all the time, going out into the city, down to the market, whenever they wanted and were never afraid that someone might attack them.
Even Holly could admit that it never crossed her mind.
Not just because they had guards. Guards that weren't even there because of the domini.
They had been placed there when they had been under threat of the ratchi and, as far as Holly knew, remained there just in case.
The domini just weren't the type to sneak up on you in the dark, trying to hide their actions.
If they wanted to fight, they would do it, fully condoned, in the light of day.