Indentured Bride (4 page)

“Could I help you?”

One side of his mouth tilted up in a smile.  “You did help.”

“I could…I could try to shoot monsters, too.”

Now he laughed.  His eyes crinkled when he smiled.  “Bring me the soup.”

She hopped up at once to obey.  In moments she presented him the soup and spoon.  He lifted his head enough to take a bite.  She became transfixed on his expression.  Did he like it?  She wanted to know her first try at Hax-Rah cooking had been successful.

There was a brow lift that indicated pleasant surprise, as well as a second bite.

“I requested for a shuttle to come for you.  Command insisted I wait a week before formalizing my request.  I doesn’t matter how well you cook or clean for me—or how fond I become of you.  You’ll die if you stay here.”

Tabitha felt as though she’d been kicked in her middle. 

“Couldn’t a safe room be made for me?  Some place I could hide—like underground or something.”

“It would smell you.  It would dig you up.”

She couldn’t mask the sadness in her face.  “Isn’t there some way I could stay here?”

He spooned the soup.  “If more hex-lords were assigned.  If the beasts never had a chance to grow out of their egg-sacks.  But no Hax-Rah with sense will take this mission.”

Her shoulders slumped with a sigh.  Tears had built in her chest again, but she refused to let them fall.  She dragged herself into the kitchen to try and stomach her own dinner.

*

*  *

*  *  *

*  *  *

*  *

*

 “You were a maid before you were conquered?”  Diplomo translated Jaxil’s words the next morning while Tabitha finished the dishes.

“No, hith,” she said, giving him sideways glance.  “I was just a kid, still in school.”

“You may call me Jaxil, deearka.”

The gesture caused a warm feeling in her middle.  “And I’m Tabitha, in case they never told you.”  She smiled at him.  “But I like it when you call me deearka.”

He returned her smile.  It caused his pale eyes to gleam. 

She followed him out of the kitchen.  “What about you?  Why are you a hex-lord, doing the jobs no one else wants to do?”

Jaxil sat at his terminal.  “I was sick of being responsible for the deaths of others.”

Oh.

There was a monochromatic panel on his terminal screen with black spots moving over coordinates on a grid.  She decided to leave him alone.  Diplomo followed her into the gardens outside.

“Can you help me decide what to pick for dinner?”

“Ms. Riley.”

A dent formed between her brows.  Diplomo was speaking at a lower volume than usual.

“I do not believe the hex-lord was completely truthful when he stated his reason for accepting this mission.  I wish to relay this information to you because if you do end up assigned here permanently I will be asking my controllers to remove me.  My presence is not necessary for your protection.”

Several thoughts bombarded her at once.  “It’s not?  But what about translating for us?”

“I presume he will accept the language chip if he intends to keep you.”

Her perplexed expression remained.  “Why did he take the mission?”

Diplomo’s volume grew even lower.  “Ms. Riley, Jaxil does not behave as a typical Hax-Rah male.  The way he’s been treating you is abnormal in their empire.  He withdrew to isolation because he’s a
kriskran
.  He has endo-genes which make him capable of greater compassion than is practical for a warrior.  A kriskran is suited for missions such as this one.  He is not ruthless enough for missions of conquest.”

Tabitha blinked at him.  Her master was a lover, not a fighter.

“His kind is expected to sacrifice themselves in a hex-lord assignment.  He’s an outcast as a kriskran.  If he had failed to conform to the merciless ways of the empire he would have been ordered to commit suicide.  There is no other place for Jaxil in Hax-Rah society.”

Tabitha crossed her hands beneath her chin.  Her sweet master…

“I need to stay with him, Diplomo.”  She shook her head.  “It’s not fair.”

*

*  *

*  *  *

*  *  *

*  *

*

She baked tubers and warmed some of the meat for dinner.  Jaxil emerged to eat with her at the kitchen table.  His wound was now a dark red line beneath the staples (she’d watched him change the dressing).  Diplomo was right.  He was healing faster than any human would. 

“What was that meat?” she said, while clearing the table.

“The only meat there is here.  It’s jii’tox.”

“Well—at least they’re tasty.”

She followed him into the living room.  “Does your wound still hurt?”

“Very little.  I’ll be well enough to resume my work by tomorrow.”  He sat at his terminal.

“That’s good.”

“You should kill me before I’m fully healed.  My people conquered yours.”

She nodded.  “I’ll see if I can find a knife.”

Jaxil harrumphed.

“This is said in jest, correct?” Diplomo said.

“May I clean your bedroom?” Tabitha said to Jaxil.  Diplomo translated after a pause.

“You may do whatever you wish, deearka.  It won’t change the situation.  You’ll still have to leave at week’s end.”

She strode into his bedroom, undaunted.  “Then you should take advantage of me while you can.” 

Jaxil turned his seat, catching her gaze.  His narrow eyes estimated her.  “You should be careful of what you say.  You’re a tempting woman, and I’ve been alone a long time.”

You’re pretty tempting, too. 
Earlier that day she’d caught herself admiring the sheen on his abdominal muscles and then later noticed how tightly his pants hugged the round hemispheres of his buttocks.   

Tabitha stepped back toward him.  “If you use me as a concubine you should keep me.  I understand that it’s dangerous.  I still don’t want to leave.”

“Then you don’t understand the danger at all.”

She fumed.  “That’s true.  Even after you were injured so horribly, I still don’t feel in danger.  All I see is a safe, nice, warm, welcoming home.  There aren’t any monsters here.”

He gestured to his monitor.  “There is, deearka.  All around us.  And getting too big for me to kill.”

Emotion started to build in her chest.  “Then I should leave.  Definitely.”  She lifted her head.  “But I still don’t want to.”

Jaxil stood.  He brought an arm around her back making her stumble closer to him. 

“Are you ready to act as a concubine to me right now?”

She drew her lips into her mouth to wet them.  “If…if it means I can stay…and if…”  She peeked up at him.  “…you’re not rough with me.”

His yellow eyes widened.  Then he pulled her into an embrace.  His warm hard-muscled body compressed against her softness.

“Damn.”

Tabitha reached up to hold him in return.  She felt awash with tingles where their bodies connected.  His arms were so strong around her.  Couldn’t he protect her from any threat?

“You make this too difficult for me.”

“I don’t mean to.”

“You could be killed no matter what I do.  It will always be dangerous here.”

She tilted back to gaze into his eyes.  “Then you shouldn’t have to face it alone.”

He leaned down and crushed her mouth with his.

The sudden passion turned her core to liquid.  His hot tongue went into her mouth, voraciously seeking her own, then joining with it in slick sensuous heat.  She grew limber in his arms, without a spec of resistance blooming.  Jaxil was masterful in a way that it felt right to yield to.  A hand coursed over her back, then dense fingers threaded through her hair.  Every touch left scintillating trails of sensation.  Her breasts were fused against him, her nipples hardened instantly. 

His incredible hot mouth was igniting her—making her sex grow tight.  It had been an eternity since she’d felt arousal.  The spark of it now had her head and body reeling. 

Yes, please….
 

Even if there wasn’t love—he’d respected her.  He’d never treated her like a slave.  She already sensed there could be something meaningful between them.  In this universe that was more than she ever expected.  It was enough for her to give her body to him without reservations. 

When he broke their lips she saw her lust mirrored in his eyes.  She stayed slack in his arms, her lips were parted and her heavy-lidded eyes gazed at him. 

He spoke so softly that Diplomo had to come closer to hear him. 

“I want you to stay—more than anything.  I don’t know how I can keep you safe.  But I’ll try.  I’ll try to find a way.  It would be agony to let you go.” 

She nodded while still gazing in his eyes.  Her hand reached up to caress the side of his strong jaw.  Jaxil closed his eyes at the touch, and she saw him swallow.  Then he moved swiftly enough to make her gasp.  His arm swept up the back of her legs, taking her feet off the floor and then holding her suspended in the air.  She grasped him around the shoulders to keep her bearing.  Jaxil carried her into the bedroom.

She wondered why she was so determined to sleep with him.  Her only experiences had been ten years ago.  Back then she was still a girl.  Now she was a woman, one who’d been dormant for so very long.  The need she felt now—she wanted to explore it.  Jaxil, with his glorious muscled body, with his gentlemanly treatment of her, he’d made himself worthy. 

She wanted him to ravage her.

Jaxil placed her in the center of his large bed.  He shed his pants revealing a formidable bulge hugged by thin shorts.  Then he crept over her and mashed their lips together.  His hands glided down over her throat and the sides of her breasts.  A heated tongue sought hers.  She slanted her head so their mouths could share the same space.  Their tongues wrangled sensually and she could hear deep labored breaths coming through his nostrils. 

Jaxil broke from her with hunger in his eyes.  He took the fabric of her shirt in both his strong hands and yanked it up and off of her.  Her bra was removed in another powerful, fluid movement.  His eyes grew wild at the sight of her naked breasts.  He lowered to attach his mouth to one side, teasing her nipple with a frenetic tongue. Tabitha’s heart raced.  His body was a muscular heated mass on top of her, and he was taking her so masterfully.

His mouth sucked and teased her nipple to rigidness before switching to the other side.  Both reddened nubs were left pulsating in his wake.  His hot breath hit against her skin, making the flesh purr. 

He kissed his way down to her tremulous stomach, latching onto and wetting the sensitive skin in a way that made her quiver.  She knew she was already damp between her thighs.  Anticipation put a stagger in her breath.

He danced the fingers of both hands over her sensitive ribs, making her curl from the intense sensation.  Then he sat up and hitched his fingers into the waistband of her pants.  Tabitha wasn’t granted a moment respite to catch her breath.  Her master stripped the last of her clothes from her hips to her feet and tossed them off the bed.  Her sex was now guarded only by a wispy tuft of red hair.  She bit her lower lip while his eyes went from her breasts to her sex and back again. 

Her heart thundered now.  The eroticism of being naked in front of him made her clench deep inside.  She felt small beneath the muscular brute—vulnerable in a way that excited her.  He lowered to kiss the crest of her hip bone.  Then his hand glided between her thighs, widening the gap between them.  Two fingers breached her slit, connecting to moistened petals.  Tabitha’s stomach was now trembling.   

His fingers rubbed up and down her lips, rising to spread around her clit, encircling it, and then pressing inward against the sides.  Tabitha squeezed her eyes closed.  His thumb came up to rub against that slippery knot of nerve endings.

“Ngh.”

He teased the ultra-sensitive place for arduous moments and then relented.  Her clitoris felt like it pulsated.  There was tightness inside, growing almost painful with need. 

Ungh.
  He understood foreplay. 
Thank goodness.

Jaxil slid a finger to her opening and pressed gently to test her.  The digit slid in without resistance.  She peeked down at him.

“Mmph.” 

He braced his palm against her pubic area and pried into the hole of her sex with two thick fingers.  She was snug enough for even this to stretch her and make her entrance pulse.  His index and ring finger curled inside of her catching what had to be her g-spot.  Tabitha let out a surprised moan.  This was the source of the tightness inside her.  She was twinging with fluttery pleasure.  He pressed into the place, making her pelvis lift up from the bed.  Jaxil watched her while fondling the pleasure spot.  His thumb moved back to her clit and his technique achieved perfection:  circular rubbing on the slippery peak of her clit, and powerful fingers hooking into the sublime spot inside.  Her face contorted from the ferocious sensations. 

He kept working her, transfixed on her tremulous pleasure.  She made soft sounds, noises that were caught in her shallow breaths.  Her hips twisted as if trying to escape the barrage.  Jaxil caressed the soft flesh of her stomach to hold her in place.  He was rubbing her sex relentlessly, minute after minute, building a heated buzz inside her.  She gripped the bed sheets with both fists.

“Nhh!”

Her pelvis lifted and she convulsed on his fingers, squeezing them deep inside her with every involuntary spasm of her orgasm.  It came on so hard her face looked in agony.  He was still working, harvesting the rapture with the powerful fingers.  She bashed her heel into the bed, moaning with the incredible pleasure.  Then she jolted onto her side.  Her clit was too sensitized to be touched.  She lay gasping with her thighs clamped tight on his hand.       

Jaxil kissed the round peak of her hip and glided his moistened hand over her buttocks.  Even this touch made her wince now.  Her skin lit up with tingles even while she continued throbbing inside from the aftermath of her orgasm. 

He pulled away from her.  Somehow that made her hand launch at him.  She reached back to clutch a fistful of his pants. 

Jaxil knelt up and exposed himself with one fluid move.  He threw his underpants off the bed.